The Phils moved to within half a game of the Padres last night with a convincing win over the Nationals. The Reds have lost five straight and are tied with us at a half game back. Keep in mind, all three of these teams (including us) would be about 20 to 30 games under .500 if we played in the American League. These are all really bad teams. But that doesn’t matter, and shouldn’t stop us from cheering the Phils to go to the playoffs, where anything could happen (at least until the Series, where we would get swept by any team we played.) Of course, if we defeat the Padres by a game in the wild card race, I will be expecting a letter of thanks from the team, since I single-handedly costed the Padres a game in July.
And congrats to Ryan Howard, who tied Schmidt’s team home run record last night. It’s too bad steroids made the MLB home run record, once the most cherished record in sports, absolutely meaningless. Otherwise, we in Philly would be getting excited about the small but possible chance of Howard gunning for 61. God, I hope Bonds gets hit by a bus before he breaks Aaron’s career record. I really do.
Related: When will Philly fans chase away Utley and Howard?